The invention relates to a combustor apparatus for burning solid particles in the exhaust gas of internal combustion engines.
For removing soot from the exhaust gas of internal combustion engines, in particular Diesel engines, it is already known from German Offenlegungschrift No. 34 24 196 to filter the soot particles out of the exhaust gas with an electrostatic soot shunt and deliver them in a partitioned-off flow to a combustor apparatus to be burned. In a combustor apparatus of the above type, a glow element in the form of an electrically heated glow plug protrudes centrally into the preparation chamber, into which liquid fuel and combustion air are supplied in a metered manner and in which they are mixed intensively and ignited; after starting, this glow plug serves to provide stable ignition of the fuel-air mixture. The pilot flame generated in the preparation chamber is propagated through the overflow opening into the combustion chamber itself, into which the soot particles that are to be burned are introduced, with a partial flow diverted from the engine exhaust gas acting as the carrier. In the above type combustor apparatus, it has proved to be disadvantageous that the glow plug of the ignition device, which includes an electric heater for starting ignition, is subjected to thermal overload and wear, because it is constantly kept at a high temperature during operation.